• News

Work Under Way for Ontario’s Scarborough Subway Extension

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
The Scarborough Subway Extension project will bring Toronto Transit Commission’s Line 2 subway 4.8 miles (7.8 kilometers) further into Scarborough, with stations at Lawrence Avenue and McCowan Road; Scarborough Center; and Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road.

The Scarborough Subway Extension project will bring Toronto Transit Commission’s Line 2 subway 4.8 miles (7.8 kilometers) further into Scarborough, with stations at Lawrence Avenue and McCowan Road; Scarborough Center; and Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road.

Construction has officially begun on Ontario’s $4.5 billion (C$5.5 billion), three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension, following a June 23 groundbreaking ceremony.

The project will extend Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) Line 2 subway 4.8 miles (7.8 kilometers) further into Scarborough, with stations at Lawrence Avenue and McCowan Road; Scarborough Center; and Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road (see map above).

Strabag was awarded a $613.8 million (C$757.1 million) contract last month for advanced tunnel work. The team includes Strabag Inc. for construction and financing, and Arup Canada Inc. and Brian Isherwood & Associates Ltd. for design.

Strabag will now build the launch shaft in preparation for tunneling, which is slated to start in 2022. Tunneling will be followed by contracts for the balance of the work, according to the Office of the Premier.

Pictured: Early preparatory work at the launch shaft site, located at the northeast corner of Sheppard and McCowan. (Metrolinx photo)

The project is estimated to support as many as 3,000 jobs annually during construction, and completion is expected by 2029-30.

The Scarborough Subway Extension is part of a $23.1 billion (C$28.5 billion) subway expansion program for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, which the government of Ontario announced in April 2019. The program also includes these three projects: a new Ontario Line (a nearly 16-kilometer or 9.94-mile free-standing line); Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (extending the Eglinton Crosstown LRT 9.2 kilometers or 5.72 miles); and Yonge North Subway Extension (a 8-kilometer or 4.97-mile extension, bringing TTC’s existing Line 1 subway to the cities of Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill). The projects are being procured and delivered by Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx.

In May, the Canadian government agreed to pay a 40% share, up to $8.7 billion (C$10.7 billion), for the four subway projects.

Metrolinx President and CEO Phil Verster

“This long-awaited project will deliver reliable and modern rapid transit the people of Scarborough need,” Metrolinx President and CEO Phil Verster said. “We’re so glad that shovels are now in the ground to turn long-discussed plans into reality as quickly as possible.”

Tags: , , , , , , ,